Martin O'Neill this evening reluctantly conceded Gareth Barry's move to Liverpool could still be on.

Villa had hoped the Barry saga was over on Wednesday when Liverpool missed an agreed deadline to make an acceptable bid for the England man.

But, following a further meeting with Barry and his agent, O'Neill has reluctantly accepted the deal could still go ahead.

The Villa boss told www.avfc.co.uk: "We had a meeting last Monday with Gareth and his agent at which we all agreed we would have a 5pm deadline on Wednesday and if Liverpool had not proved they had the wherewithal to proceed with the transfer deal then we would all leave that aside and move on.

"I was hoping that would be the case and this was not a matter of Liverpool missing the deadline by 15 minutes, as seems to have been reported.

"Liverpool first showed their interest in signing Gareth Barry almost four months ago, so this is not a case of missing a deadline by 15 minutes. That's simply not true.

"The following morning we were very upbeat on the strength of what had happened on Wednesday evening. We were very buoyant and optimistic that everything could come back to normal again.

"That wasn't to be though. On Thursday there was a meeting between Gareth's agent, myself and the player. Even though the deadline had passed they still felt Liverpool were going to come in and do the deal.

"Obviously I was disappointed to hear that. Gareth's head is a bit all over the place at the moment and they asked for some more time.

"So I've listened to what they've said and I'll go with it - reluctantly but I'll go with it. There will be no deadline and Liverpool have all the time in the world now to sign Gareth Barry. They've got up to the normal window, which is the 31^st of this month.

"So it's really up to them, Gareth and his agent to sort it out. I'vedecided this is the only way forward for us really.

"I have a football club to run and I really do want people who want to play for us.

"If Liverpool at the end of it all do not come up with the money, that's no-one else's fault but their own.

"I'd be delighted if that was the case and Gareth stayed. But I would doubt that very much. The ball is very much in their court."